The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2014, and October 31, 2015, are automatically nominated for the 2015 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on October 23, 2015, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

KIRKUS REVIEW

In the wake of Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted (1997) and such recent movies as Ever After, Haddix (Among the Hidden, 1998, etc.) has her own ideas about whether Cinderella really lived happily ever after. After Ella’s triumph with the prince and the glass slipper, she moves into the castle to undergo tedious training in etiquette under the unctuous Madame Bisset. She’s astonished to learn that the castle servants believe she was sent to the fateful ball by a fairy godmother. Actually she wore her mother’s wedding gown and tricked the village glassblower into making her uncomfortable slippers. Ella also learns that the only thing charming about her prince is his name; when she decides not to marry him she’s thrown in the dungeon. With the help of Mary, a poor servant girl she has befriended, Ella tunnels her way out. She makes her way to a camp for war refugees run by Jed Reston, her only other friend from the castle. If she lives happily ever after in Haddix’s version, it’s because she takes charge of her own life. This cleverly done book would make a good read-aloud for younger children, an addition to units on myth and fairy tales at the middle-school level, and will also entertain high school students—and lead them to Haddix’s other, more contemporary works. (Fiction. 10-16)

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